Toward Freedom

Immediately after her painful death, crushed beneath an Israeli army bulldozer, Rafah embraced Rachel Corrie's legacy as another ‘martyr’ for Palestine. It was a befitting tribute to Rachel, who was born to a progressive family in the town of Olympia, itself a hub for anti-war and social justice activism.

Quebec’s historic 2011 student strike resulted in the ouster of premier Jean Charest and the repeal of his 75 percent tuition hike, and now Montreal’s student federations are gearing up again to oppose the newly elected Pauline Marois’ decision to indefinitely raise tuitions at a rate of 3 percent annually.

The year 2012 didn’t bring us the end of the world, nor the end of capitalism and Coca-Cola that Evo Morales promised last summer. But whatever new political developments the coming years may or may not bring upon us, it’s clear that we haven’t seen the end of the apocalyptic outlook that 2012 came to represent.

The countries with large and influential indigenous populations are well in the lead in seeking to preserve the planet. The countries that have driven indigenous populations to extinction or extreme marginalization are racing toward destruction.

Three years after the deadly earthquake in Haiti, what has become of the commitments made on Red Cross billboards, the promises from telethon hosts, the moving declarations of Presidents Obama and Clinton?

The Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe died on March 21. Achebe as a novelist, professor of African literature in US universities and editor of cultural journals was an important figure in the efforts to share African culture with others and to advance the multiple currents of contemporary African life.

In the face of thousands of kidnappings and an inept government, Ruben Figueroa dedicates himself to finding disappeared Central American migrants in Mexico.

In Mali, the recent occupation of the north by Islamic fighters followed by the intensive military operation to oust them, has led to increasing concerns for the Gourma elephant herds whose number is estimated at just 550.

March 5th was Town Meeting Day in Vermont and, following a long tradition of our towns taking a stand on issues of wider importance, at least 29 towns, including Montpelier and Burlington, overwhelmingly passed resolutions opposing the proposed transport of tar sands oil through our region.

Hugo Chávez’s greatest legacies are not in the presidential palace, but in the streets, factories and neighborhoods of Venezuela, among the activists, workers and neighbors who have built the Bolivarian Revolution from the bottom up.